Enabling brand to set up commission structure based on creator segment
Commission Setup
Overview
Timeline
February 2024 - April 2024 (2 months part-time)
My Role
UX designer: product audit, interview guide, case validation, rapid prototype
Context
Brands commission creators in influencer programs to support their marketing strategies. According to customer success's feedback, 5 brands have expressed interest in a flexible commission structure, allowing them to set different rates for various purposes.
Problem
Loudcrowd does not support multiple commission tiers within a single program, so the customer success team had to create separate programs for each segment of influencers requiring different commission rate.
Goal
Enable brand to setup commission structure based on their commission strategy and adjust commission rate for creators so they can budget better for influencer programs.
Solution&Impact
Provide advanced setting for expert users while keeping things hidden for others
Give user flexibility to stop commissioning ambassadors completely
Show commission structure with formula
Simple way of creating new tiers and selecting members
Commission rate can be adjusted based on strategy
42%⤴️
in user satisfaction
26%⤴️
in user engagement
30%⤵️
CS assistant for commission setup
So, how we got there?🧐
Strategy
Competitive Analysis
I researched competitors to understand how other companies address similar challenges. By evaluating the pros and cons of these competitor's commission design, I gained valuable insights for designing an effective commission setup.
User Persona
The Loudcrowd platform's persona was provided when I joined the team. For each new project, I revisit it to keep the persona fresh in mind.
Digital/Social Media Manager
The end user, the “do-er’. They are the task manager living in a world of checking the boxes. They understand the strategy and their place in making it successful. Held accountable for completing tasks and deliverables on time.
Resources They Find helpful
Social media, UGC (G2 reviews), media platforms ( TechCrunch, Buzzfeed)
Metrics They Care About
Performance metrics, website acitivy, social media status, email performance
Loves a GANT T chart of projects
Background
3 to 7 years experience, manage tasks, not team. Live in the martec stack (exp:HubSpot,Wordpress, Google Ads, etc.), will be the main login for Loudcrowd
Top Prority
Build new skills, succesfully leverage Ludcrowd in supporting strategy
Best Way to Engage
Email, social media, ads, earned media articles
Will decide if they can be proficient in Loudcrowd, be confident they can use it to perform daily/weekly tasks in regards to strategy
Needs to understand use cases and best pratices
Potentially bringing Loudcrowd to their boss as an effective tool for UGC management
Buying decisions
User Research
After learning that 5 brands wanted a more robust commission structure, I led the development of research questions for the customer success team to explore their needs. This collaboration gave me insight into the thought process behind building a complex commission system.
Brands want to differentiate commission rates for affiliate sales based on customer type, as new buyers have higher acquisition costs than returning ones.
They also seek flexibility in commissions, offering higher rates to influencers with larger or more engaged audiences to reflect their impact and incentivize promotion. For example, a top influencer (500K followers, $10K/month sales) might earn 10%, while a micro-influencer (10K followers, $1K/month sales) earns 5%.
Additionally, brands frequently adjust commission rates, updating them quarterly based on affiliate performance or during sales events to drive more sales.
User Story
Based on this insight, PM and I wrote out 3 user stories to envision how digital manager will be using this new commission feature.
As a digital manager, I want to set up a commission rate in program that applies to everyone so that creators are encouraged to actively post for my brand.
1
As a digital manager, I want to set up different commission rate for different creators so that I can pay them based on the value they provide.
2
As a digital manager, I want to be able to change creators commission rate so that I either increase or decrease rate based on program budget.
3
Current Solution
Knowing the user's need is not enough, I also went further by asking the customer success team how they are handling the commission setup request while we don't support such complex setup yet. What I learnt is that they are creating multiple programs with the same setup by a different commission rate to fulfill the need which is very inefficient and tedious.
Ideal User Flow
After bridging knowledge gaps through internal research and market analysis, I designed a user flow to streamline the platform's experience. This visual guide helps align the product team by providing a shared understanding of the user journey.
Scope
Prioritize features
PM and I decided to break the project into four releases since we recognized the workload from brands setting up commission structure to influencers viewing their commission stats.
V0 - Setting up commission tiers in program setting page
V1 - Reporting commission tiers in revenue dashboard and members' page
V2 - Payout commission in the CRM profile page
V3 - Affiliate to view their commission on ambassador hub page
Structure
Sitemap
In case, I miss any pages that will be impacted by the update in commission setting, I highlighted place in the sitemap to have a holistic view of the entire system.
Interface
Brainstorming
Although I was only told to design for segment-based commission structure, I also explored into other structure options to understand other commission strategy the user might want to apply.
Iteration 1
At first, I thought there is only two structures one is a flat commission, and one is a tiered commission, and managers can choose to what calculating factor they want to focus on.
Iteration 2
During my design feedback, I was told that I do not have a solid understanding of how commission structure works. In fact, separating flat and tiered is not a good arrangement. Based on my feedback, I research commission structure again and came up with a design that ask user to select commission structure with calculation formula at the side for clarity.
Final design
In the end, I made the following changes: 1) Made sure that the "more" button shows up all the time. 2) The cell prompt user to assign member for that tier with a "Assign members" CTA
Assign
Reflection
New concept is not that scary: A UX designer I need to have a solid understanding of how the commission tier works in the market to produce good design even though it feels intimidating at first.
Be an expert: I need to be known clearly how the commission is calculated so I can design a simpler interface for user to understand and lower their learning curve.
Thinking systematically: The commission structure setup us a section setting’s page. To design a new feature, you need to first know its surrounding components and their functionalities, so you do not create redundant functionalities.
What I worked on next :D
Thanks for reading till the end :D
© 2024 by Benyin (❁´◡`❁)